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Operating Grain Elevator
-No.870
(1981 and 1982)
TYCO's Operating Grain Elevator (No.870) shares its base design with two
other items in the Action Car and Accessories product line. The Operating Grain Elevator is the same item redressed
that first appeared in 1979 as The Operating Gravel Conveyor (No.922) and Operating Gold Mine (No.936). TYCO's Operating
Grain Elevator is a new item for the 1979 catalog and makes one additional appearance in the '81 catalog. Beyond different
coloring, the small plastic crates supplied with The Operating Grain Elevator are the items only features separating it from
the other two mentioned offerings. A hand crank located in the small shed sitting next to the bin controls the action.
As you crank the handle, the conveyor's black vinyl belt rotates emptying the overhead bin onto the belt up and out into a
waiting freight car. Though some items such as this did include a freight car, The Operating Grain Elevator does not
come with one.
TYCO utilized the same base model for at least three different entries
in the Action Cars and Accessories line. The plastic model of the overhead bin with conveyor belt operated by a
hand crank in shed is the same for TYCO's Operating Gravel Conveyor (No.922); Operating Gold Mine (No.936); and (No.870) Operating
Grain Elevator. The 1979 TYCO catalog is the first to introduce this model with both the Operating Gravel Conveyor and
Operating Gold Mine as new items for that year. The third entry using this base design, TYCO's Operating Grain Elevator,
arrives with the 1981 product catalog. The 1982 TYCO catalog features the Operating Grain Elevator and is
the last catalog to feature an Accessory with this base model. The Operating Gold Mine is the most deluxe of the
three selections, as this item also included an Operating Dump Car and two-piece Trackside Bin. The Gravel Conveyor
and Grain Elevator items do not include a freight car, nor do they have the separate Trackside Bin.
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